The prevalence of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder among individuals who seek treatment for substance abuse

• Main Author: Hildigunnur Sól Eldjárn Kristjánsdóttir 1993-
• Other Authors: Háskólinn í Reykjavík
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: Sálfræði; Áfallastreita; Fíkniefnaneytendur; Psychology; Post-traumatic stress disorder; Substance abuse; Reykjavík; Háskólans í Reykjavík; Reykjavik University
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1946/28397

This study was conducted to examine the prevalence of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder among individuals who seek treatment for substance abuse. A sample of 132 participants was enrolled, where 88 were psychology and preliminary department students from Reykjavik University. The comparison group consisted of 43 participants that were on a waiting list for substance abuse treatment at Teigur. The results provided support for all three hypothesis in the study. Participants in substance abuse treatment had experienced 5.2 traumas on average while participants in the comparison group had only experienced 2,1 trauma on average. In excess of 70% in the substance abuse group met the criteria for PTSD symptoms, whereas only 13% met the criteria in the comparison group. Of those participants who had been sexually assaulted, 61.5% met criteria for PTSD compared to 36.4% who had experienced other types of trauma. It is concluded that individuals with substance abuse problems are in more danger of encounter in traumatic situation and developing PTSD rather than healthy population. That indicates that there is a need for attention to individuals in substance abuse treatment and it would be interesting to examine how well trauma predict substances later on in life. Keywords: PTSD, Substance Abuse, Trauma Þessi rannsókn var framkvæmd til þess að kanna algengi áfalla og áfallastreituröskunar hjá einstaklingum í meðferð á fíknigeðdeild. Notast var við úrtak af 132 þátttakendum, þar sem 88 þátttakendur voru sálfræðinemar og nemar við frumgreinadeild Háskólans í Reykjavík. Í rannsóknarhópnum voru 43 þátttakendur á biðlista fyrir fíknimeðferð á Teigi fíknigeðdeild. Niðurstöðurnar studdu allar þrjár tilgáturnar sem lagðar voru fram í rannsókninni. Þátttakendur í fíknimeðferð höfðu upplifað að meðaltali 5,2 áföll miðað við þátttakendur í samanburðarhópnum höfðu einungis upplifað 2,1 áfall að meðaltali. Um það bil 70% af fíknihópnum mættu skilyrðum fyrir áfallastreituröskun, en einungis 12,6% í samanburðarhópnum mættu þeim ...